Let's sew, knit, weave or otherwise craft something and then talk about it to no one in particular, shall we?

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I have a new craft obsession taking up far too much of my time these days. Paper crafting:

I recently purchased a Cricut Explore Air, a precision cutting machine, that can do a whole range of really cool craft projects. While I’ve been exploring all of the the possibilities, I came across DIY designer Lia Griffith’s website. Her paper flowers and botanicals are a cornerstone of her website and I just love how realistic they are.

So far I have tried a few of her projects and I’m pleasantly surprised at how beautiful and realistic the results are. First off I tried making Paperwhites:

Then it was mini Gerbera Daisies in shades of pink:

My latest project is The Boho Botanical Wreath pictured at the beginning of this post.

Each project has involved downloading SVG cut files from Lia’s website and then making a few adjustments in the Cricut Design Space software. Then I chose text weight and cardstock papers, cut them on the machine, and assembled using a glue gun. They get extra dimension from folding along scoring lines and bending the leaves and petals a bit. The Gerberas and Paperwhites are glued to floral wire and the stems are wrapped in floral tape. The wreath is made by twisting paper covered wire into a circle and then gluing all the paper components to the circle. Links to directions and photo tutorials are on the Lia Griffith website. I will admit I have some glue-singed fingers, but I think it’s been worth it!

I can’t wait to try more paper flowers. They definitely brighten up the house, but I think they’d be beautiful for gift toppers and party decorations, too.

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Happy to have another project finished. This one’s the Grandpa Cardigan by Joji Knits and design, knit in Knit Picks City Tweed DK. Details on my Ravelry page. I started this one in late September and would have had it finished in about 2 weeks if I hadn’t decided I wanted it to be bigger. I’d knit almost the whole body before making that decision! Ouch! Now that it’s done, it’s cozy and soft and I hope to get lots of wear out of it.

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I cannot even believe that I haven’t posted anything I’ve made in 8 months. Not sure how that happened! But it’s a new year and of course there are resolutions to be more organized, more creative , take more pictures, etc…. We’ll see how that works out. Life has a funny way of intruding, doesn’t it?

After lots of last minute holiday crafting and wonderful house guests, I was itching to make something and preferably not something for the Etsy shop for a change. I took advantage of all the great after Christmas sales at my favorite yarn and fabric places. The discounts are so good that Santa should just wait until Dec. 26th to start shopping for me.

First I had fun making some new hats from Margeau Chapeau using chunky wool and giant needles. Its so satisfying to finish a whole knitting project in an evening, but those needles were SO much bigger than my usual knitting! My hands were sore! The hat above was actually made between Christmas and New Year. I forgot to photograph the cute one from the cover I sent home with my sister-in-law. Look at me, already breaking resolutions!

I also ordered a few sewing kits from Craftsy and set to work on the first one last weekend. It’s the True Colors Table Runner designed by Amy Gibson of Stitchery Dickory Dock. I loved the colors and fabrics included and it was nice to have them all selected for me for a change instead of making a mess auditioning fabrics from my stash. It also sped up the process considerably!

It’s my first true start-to-finish make of 2017 and I’m hoping it’s the first of many.

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Back in January I made some new large passport holders for my Etsy shop. It was time to restock the small holders that can hold up to four passports, and a couple of big ones that have been waiting around to be photographed. I might have gotten carried away choosing fabrics. I just kept cutting out “one more”. I hope they find their way to exciting travels with new owners eventually!

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This month my fellow stitchers of the Believe Circle from do. Good Stitches Charity Bee are getting our Spring on making some colorful nine-patch blocks in bright pink with accents of lime, orange, or purple. Kinda makes me want a popsicle! Laura posted a great tutorial on her blog for us to follow. Here’s how mine turned out. Apologies for the “misty” evening photography!

If you’re looking for a great opportunity to sew for others, I really recommend joining the do. Good Stitches waiting list. They add new stitchers and quilters all the time and it’s lots of fun!

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I think most quilters hate throwing out scraps, so we collect drawers full of them. For me, those scraps include leftover quilt batting. Since you need to leave a border in your quilt sandwich there are always lots of extra batting pieces left behind when you trim up the final quilt. I can’t bear to throw them out and I tell myself I’ll make coasters. Lots of coasters! But I never do…

A while back, I took an hour to get those scraps organized and it’s made a big difference. I sorted them roughly by size and then quickly measured them and labeled them. I mean quickly, too. I was only looking for an “at least” measurement – I didn’t stop to square them up or get precise. I threw out any scraps that weren’t at least 4″ wide.

I folded each scrap into whatever way it would best fit into the plastic shoeboxes I already had and then pinned a sticky note with their size on.

I sorted them by width, so I’d be able to go back and grab just what I need for a small quilting project. I’m happy to report that it was worth it! I am using up those scraps on lots of small projects I was making anyway, like zippy bags and purse straps. I love that I can open the batting cupboard without it all falling out on me, too!

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Every once in a while I have the pure joy of making something that just makes me want to squeal, “Eeeeeee!”. Even before it’s finished, I know I have something I’m going to love. Today was one of those days. Oh, and if you don’t love it, just keep it to yourself, Buzzkill.

Meet my Fauxberry Disco Clutch. Not since Tollhouse Cookies has a domestic catastrophe ultimately turned out so well. Back in December I sat down at my loom to try to make a Burberry inspired scarf I’d seen on Ravelry. I think I was so eager to get weaving that I got lazy in the vital prep stages. Weaving is not nearly as forgiving as knitting or sewing. If you make a mistake setting up the warp threads or miss a few strands as you’re picking the weft, it can be hours of work or downright impossible to fix. No seam rippers here.

I like to warp directly on my loom (if you’re not a weaver, just go get a cup of coffee here and catch up in a minute…) because it’s faster, but if you don’t pay careful attention to the tension you can have problems. I have experienced this before with other pieces I’ve woven, but as they weren’t plaids I could ultimately salvage the piece. In this case, the more I wove the more wonky my warp tension (and my plaid) became. When I stopped and attempted to “fix” it I just made it worse. There was no way to save this puppy. It was a tragic waste of yarn. I cut the 20-30″ of fabric I’d made off the loom and just couldn’t bear to throw it away. It was pretty, but it was never going to be a scarf.

It sat orphaned in my workroom, mocking me, until I saw the pattern for the Discotech Clutch from Sew Sweetness. It was cute, small and simple. Oh yeah, did I mention it was also free? Sara, from Sew Sweetness, makes the most amazing bags, and I own and love two of her books, but this one was a freebie. Maybe, just maybe, I could make something of that mess after all.

Since I’ve never actually CUT anything I’ve woven – you know, because I’m not insane – I wasn’t sure how this would work out. I may have gone overboard to stabilize the fabric. It’s a loose weave wool and I didn’t want it unravelling on me. Ever. I fused lightweight interfacing to the wrong side before cutting out the pattern. Then I applied a bead of Fray Block all around the edge inside what would become the seam allowance. Then I ran an overcast stitch all around the edge with my sewing machine. Then I sacrificed a live chicken to the gods. Only then did I begin to assemble.

The actual assembly of the bag was a snap. It’s a great pattern. It even has handy pockets on the inside.

If there’s anything I don’t love about the bag it’s that handle. I chose a cheap one because I was experimenting. The pattern calls for a similar, but nicer quality handle. But this will do, and hopefully I’m the only one who’ll notice. When I cut the holes for the handles there was more Fray Block and some UHU fabric glue, swearing, and finger crossing. And, oh Lordy, were there some serious fumes! Thankfully they dissipated in about 30 minutes.

Here’s the other side:I wish I’d photographed this from the side, because I’m seriously proud of how the plaids all align at the seams. I’m so fancy.

As soon as the fumes cleared, I filled it up (it’s tiny so it didn’t take long…) and headed off to do some shopping looking extra chic. I’m pretty sure I was the envy of everyone at Petco. 🙂

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Spent the weekend making quilted composition book covers. I love the way they have enough surface area to highlight a great fabric and they’re not hard to make. It’s the kind of project that makes a great gift for so many different types of people just by modifying the fabric choices.

When I started making them I used a great tutorial at Ellison Lane, and I’ve adapted it to suit my style. My version has pockets on the interior flaps and I omit the ribbon. I often piece an accent fabric with my main fabric. I also like to round the corners to reduce bulk .

Because these are a sort of blank canvas, it’s fun to experiment. I used some colorful triangles left over from another project and raw appliquéd them to one. Since a covered notebook will get some handling, I quilted this one in a tight grid that you can see in the upper left photo. The triangles will fray with use and gain texture, but they should stay put for the most part.

See that amazing jelly fish journal? That’s a great block print done by my sister-in-law at SentimentalAsylum. I’ve put this one on sale, but I have to make another for myself because I love this so much. Actually, she has so many great prints that I’d like a journal made from each of them, especially her sweary ones! I’m also proud that I have managed to overcome my fear of cutting into the fabrics she printed for me!

Need a gift for yourself or someone you love? They’re in the shop. Happy sewing!

The internet is a constant source of inspiration for me. I don’t think I would be half as crafty without it. I could easily lose a whole day in visiting sewing and knitting blogs and pinning on Pinterest. Time wasting? Maybe some days, but most days I learn something new or become inspired to see new possibilities in the yarn and fabric stash I already own. It also leads me to creative people around the world.

This latest project is proof of the value of browsing. Pinterest recently recommended these socks to me. I just loved all the color and stranded colorwork knitting is my favorite type. They were made by a knitter & blogger, Jenny F, in Finland. Her blog has beautiful photos of her work, but is in Finnish or Swedish or something I only normally encounter in IKEA. :(. It seems from her Ravelry page that she was inspired to make her socks by some fingerless mitts from a knitter in Reno, Nevada. See what I mean? All these connections wouldn’t happen without some serious internet browsing, right?

Every time I knit a pair of women’s socks it seems I end up with leftover yarn. I’ve never stopped to measure, but I’m guessing somewhere around 50 – 100 yards on average. It’s too much to throw away, but it seldom gets used. I took Jenny F’s socks as my inspiration and worked out the pattern and started knitting using up leftover bits of yarn from my stash. I’m smitten.

Like so many scrap projects, scrap can look an awful lot like just plain crap when you’re just starting out. Put 3 or 4 random colors of yarn together and they can be hideous, but something happens when you start adding more. I especially love throwing in a neutral, like a gray or a brown to give your eyes a little rest now and again.

Hopefully, I’m not the only one who loves the cheerful, rich mix of colors. I think there are a few things that help in scrap knitting. First, the cuff, heel and toe are all one color. I also made sure as I knit the first sock that I had enough yarn to knit the second sock in the the same color pattern so I’d end up with identical twin socks. I think it gives a little more polish to the scrappiness.

The color work pattern also helps this scrap project. By carrying the previous color into the next band of color, it helps to blend one color into the next, carrying your eye along with it. I also forced myself not to think too hard about what color to use next. If I don’t do that I tend to slip into ROYGBIV color patterns too easily!

Some technical details for anyone thinking of scrap busting their yarn:

Each band takes far less yarn than I would have imagined – the photo of the balls at the top was taken after my socks were more than 3/4 done. I look forward to making more!

Don’t be afraid to mix it up. I used all superwash fingering weight wool yarns, because thats what I had for leftover sock yarn, but there are solids, tonal, and kettle-dyed yarns, and yarns with glitter here! I like the gypsy feel that this mix gives off.

I think Jenny F cast on 60 stitches to make her socks. I cast on 64 and would probably think about going up to 68 next time. Any even number will work. I’m using a 1.5 needle here.

I wove most of my ends in as I knit because colorwork finishing is a bitch otherwise :).

Next time, I think I’ll take the time to make jogless stripes. These socks are for me, and I don’t mind the jog, but with so many color changes, it might be nice. This time I arranged my stitches so the jog line runs down the back and along the bottom of my foot where it will be less noticeable.

A great resource for making socks is Charlene Schurch’s book Sensational Knitted Socks. It might be out of print, as it only seems to be available from third-party sellers on Amazon. If so this is very sad, because this book really teaches you everything you need to know about making socks in any size with virtually any yarn and it includes really great patterns, too. I refer back to it all the time when making projects like this to guide me through stitch counts for heel turning and gussets, etc.

It’s so satisfying in a “waste-not-want-not” kind of way to use up my scraps and end up with something pretty!

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Like so many people who craft, I have materials everywhere. I’m lucky enough to have a designated room to sew in, but it is jammed full. Every once in a while I go tearing through a drawer or cupboard and discover something I’d forgotten completely. The other day I rediscovered a few yards of Benartex Foundation by the Yard fabric. Have you heard of this before? I hadn’t. My friend Melissa and I found it during a Korean fabric shopping trip a couple of years ago and bought some because it seemed cool and the price was right.

It’s a pre-printed muslin panel. Each panel has 12 foundations for New York Beauty quilt blocks and complete instructions for how to piece them are printed along the sides of the panels. Apparently, Benartex makes these panels pre-printed with lots of classic quilt blocks. I’ve always done my foundation piecing on paper, but this works just the same way only the muslin stays on the back of your finished block. No picking bits of paper out of the seams? Sign me up.

I’d been wanting to make a pillow with a Valentine’s feel to it, so I decided to try making a few of these blocks in shades of pink and red.

I started with foundation block pieces:

I decided to use solid shades of pinks and reds for the points and text prints for the background.

Originally I was planning on making this a square pillow with four blocks forming a circle in the center, but I got to this point and had an idea:

About a year ago I bought a couple of down lumbar pillow forms for a pair of chairs in our family room. I never got around to making the covers I had planned. I liked this half circle so much (and – amazing – the measurements worked out) I decided to make covers using just 2 squares each for those instead of a big square. Lazy or brilliant? You be the judge.

I quilted in arcs on the background fabric using the edge of my walking foot as a spacing guide.